Sports wire

Tuesday

Oct 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2007 at 11:31 AM

Golf Chopra posts first PGA Tour victory

Daniel Chopra reclaimed the lead with a birdie at the par-5 16th hole yesterday morning and held on to win the oft-delayed Ginn sur Mer Classic in Port St. Lucie, Fla., edging Fredrik Jacobsen and Shigeki Mauryama by one shot for his first PGA Tour win.

Golf Chopra posts first PGA Tour victory

Daniel Chopra reclaimed the lead with a birdie at the par-5 16th hole yesterday morning and held on to win the oft-delayed Ginn sur Mer Classic in Port St. Lucie, Fla., edging Fredrik Jacobsen and Shigeki Mauryama by one shot for his first PGA Tour win.

The victory came in Chopra's 133rd career start, and the $810,000 winner's check pushed his career earnings to just shy of $5 million. He saw a four-shot lead over his nearest pursuers evaporate as darkness fell on Tesoro Club on Sunday night.

Chopra, Maruyama and Jacobsen all entered the morning 18 under.

NBA Rookie fills out Cavs' roster

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed rookie Demetris Nichols to finalize their opening-day roster.

The club did not disclose contract terms on Nichols, who averaged 4.8 points in five exhibition games with the New York Knicks, who waived him last week.

His addition will give coach Mike Brown more bench depth. He could also help offset the loss of forward Sasha Pavlovic, a restricted free agent who remains unsigned in a contract holdout.

The 6-foot-8 Nichols averaged 18.9 points last season at Syracuse and was a first-team All-Big East selection. Nichols, 23, was taken by the Portland Trail Blazers with the No. 53 pick before he was traded on draft day to the Knicks for a second-round selection.

The Cavs also waived forward Noel Felix. He played in three exhibition games, averaging 2.7 points.

• Penny Hardaway, who signed a nonguaranteed contract this summer, made the Miami Heat's roster. The guard hasn't played in a regular-season game in nearly two years because of knee problems and has been limited for several seasons by an array of injuries.

• The Minnesota Timberwolves bought out the remaining two years of Juwan Howard's contract.

• The New Jersey Nets opened two roster spots by trading swingman Bernard Robinson, center Mile Ilic and cash considerations to the New Orleans Hornets for veteran guard David Wesley.

The Nets told Wesley not to report and the team will eat the guaranteed portion of his $1.75 million contract. The team will waive him at some point, and there are no immediate plans to fill either roster spot. The trade helped New Jersey get under the league's luxury tax level of $67.87 million.

• Guards Bob Sura and John Lucas III were cut by the Houston Rockets.

• The Indiana Pacers signed Courtney Sims, an undrafted 6-foot-11 rookie from Michigan.

• The San Antonio Spurs traded guard Beno Udrih to the Timberwolves for a second-round draft pick in 2008.

Elsewhere Boxers banned for life after being caught shoplifting in Chicago

Three Romanian boxers were sent home from the world championships in Chicago and banned for life after reportedly being caught shoplifting at a department store.

Marius Bogdan Dinu, Ronald Gavril and Gabriel Julian Stan were apprehended at Nordstrom's on Friday night. The three boxers and team manager Vasile Pitea were sent home Sunday, and the president of the Romania boxing federation issued a public apology.

All three boxers were already out of the world championships after losing their first bouts.

• Maria Sharapova clinched the final place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Madrid, Spain, and Venus Williams withdrew because of dizzy spells.

The top eight players qualify for the $3 million event, and Williams opted out despite sitting seventh in the standings. The Wimbledon champion said she hasn't recovered after experiencing dizzy spells at the U.S. Open.

• American Mardy Fish defeated D mitry Tursunov 7-6 (7), 6-4 with the help of 19 aces and advanced to the second round of the Paris Masters.

• The World Cup will no longer be rotated among continents, a decision that throws the race open for the 2018 tournament.

South Africa already has been awarded the 2010 tournament and soccer's governing body is expected to announce Brazil -- the only candidate -- as the 2014 host today.

FIFA's executive committee rejected a proposal from CONCACAF that would have ensured the 2018 event going to the region representing North and Central America and the Caribbean.

"FIFA's decision does not change our own commitment to try to bring the World Cup back to the United States," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said. "I believe that a U.S. bid will be very competitive."

• The Palestinian soccer team missed its World Cup qualifying game in Singapore because of Israeli travel restrictions. Eighteen of the squad's players and officials live in the Gaza Strip and didn't receive Israeli permits to leave Gaza for the game.

The Palestinians have asked FIFA to reschedule the game.

-- From wire reports

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